Ivanka Trump has finally taken a stand against father’s family separation policy — sort of.
During a ceremony at the State Department on Thursday, President Donald Trump‘s eldest daughter and adviser helped unveil a new report on international human trafficking — which included a scathing, two-page denouncement of the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
“The international community agrees that a family caregiving setting, or an alternative solution that is appropriate and culturally sensitive, is the most conducive environment for the growth, well-being, and safety of children,” the report states.
“Removal of a child from the family should only be considered as a temporary, last resort,” the report added, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The report, which was written before the president’s family separation policy took effect in April, is nevertheless likely to be seen as an indictment of Trump’s actions on immigration.
As public outrage grew over Trump’s policy — which has resulted in more than 2,300 children being torn apart from their parents at the border — Ivanka, 36, stayed silent.
She only commented last week after her father signed an executive order reversing his policy amid intense public pressure.
Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border. Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values;the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) June 20, 2018
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“Thank you @POTUS for taking critical action ending family separation at our border,” Ivanka tweeted. “Congress must now act + find a lasting solution that is consistent with our shared values; the same values that so many come here seeking as they endeavor to create a better life for their families.”
She added that families should be reunited as “swiftly and safely” as possible.
Despite her long silence before that tweet, the White House appeared to be trying to paint the first daughter as a heroine amid the crisis.
Trump told House Republicans last week that Ivanka had “talked to him about the images of children, and told him what a problem they are.”
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted that Ivanka went to her father and said, “Daddy, what are we doing about this?” and he admitted it was a “tough issue,” before turning to another topic.
Multiple lawmakers who attended the meeting also noted that Trump told them how Ivanka had appealed to him to end his “zero-tolerance” immigration policy.
“She has been apparently very affected by this and moved, and asked him to find a way to stop this practice,” GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida told The Daily Beast on Tuesday. “He said that he agrees that this should end, but he believes that it should end with a legislative fix.”
But Axios reported that it was actually television coverage of the migrant children crisis — and not Ivanka — that persuaded him to sign the executive order.
After weeks of silence on Trump’s immoral family separation policy and then shifting the blame to Congress, Ivanka Trump now wants to take credit for her father’s policy shift. “I have very strong opinions on that topic,” she tells Fox Business. pic.twitter.com/WWpG88WuFe
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) June 29, 2018
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During an interview with Fox Business on Friday, Ivanka said she’d spoken to her father about the crisis and added that she has “very strong opinions on that topic.”
She did not elaborate on those opinions.